She had held onto hope once, the fragile belief that they might change, that things might somehow become better. But reality had stripped that illusion away piece by piece until nothing was left but truth, cold, unyielding, and impossible to ignore. They would never change. They would only drag her further down, into a life with no escape, no future, no light.
But now, things were different.
Her hand moved slowly, instinctively, coming to rest against her abdomen. The slight curve beneath her palm was still subtle, barely noticeable, but to her it carried more meaning than anything else in the world.
She wasn't alone anymore.
There was a life inside her.
And that life changed everything.
